


Pronouns

by shugarcone



Category: Inanimate Insanity (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Crying, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Nonbinary Character, Off-screen Relationship(s), idk if there will be lightbulb/paintbrush in the relationship tag or not yet sorry, no misgendering, this is my first fic in a while hhhh, uh ask to tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-06-16 15:45:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15440367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shugarcone/pseuds/shugarcone
Summary: I arrive at the hotelCrab: redBristles: combedConfession: aired on televisionI am forcibly removed from the closet(This is a serious fic I swear)





	1. Chapter 1

OJ had been waiting for MePhone's elimination portal to appear. After his day in jail, the two had set up a plan for how contestants would be housed in the hotel. Since eliminated contestants arrived at the hotel before the episode showing their elimination aired (being shown publically later that night), OJ would take them to where they would stay and then instruct them to stay there until the morning in order to not spoil the episode for the other residents. It was a sort of tradition for the residents to all gather in the main living room and watch the newest episode of Inanimate Insanity, eager to root on their friends as well as find out who would be joining them.  
With a flash of light, the portal finally appeared, although no one immediately walked through. This was normal, depending on who had been eliminated and MePhone's mood. OJ waited paitently, watching to see who would walk through. It wasn't long before he could hear someone walking towards him. After a moment, the figure stood before OJ.

"Paintbrush!" OJ mused, "I didn't expect you to be eliminated so early." He only then noticed what they were holding, and added, "...And you brought a crab."

Paintbrush was completely silent, not even really looking at OJ. It was as if their mind was elsewhere. They were shaking slightly.

"Here," OJ continued, "Let me show you to your r-" He only then noticed Paintbrush's condition, which already in the past few seconds had worsened.

"Paintbrush..." OJ asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

At that the crab slipped from Paintbrush's hold as they broke down crying, covering their face with their hands. OJ was shocked, and unsure what to do. He had no idea what had happened, and he didn't want to upset Paintbrush more by asking. Instead, he carefully picked up the crab. He suddenly realized it was Baxter, Lightbulb's crab she had adopted as her own several weeks (and episodes) ago. OJ wondered why Paintbrush had Baxter now.

Paintbrush had started to calm themself down now, and OJ turned his attention back to them. He carefully placed a hand on their arm to get their attention. "Hey," he said cautiously. Paintbrush peeked through their fingers, sniffling as they listened to OJ continue, "Let's go to your room, alright? You can rest there."

Paintbrush wiped the tears from their face, managing to answer quietly, "Okay."

The two walked to the room with OJ leading the way.

Later that evening, it was time to watch the latest episode of Inanimate Insanity and, as they always did, everyone was piled on and around the couch, huddled in front of the TV in anticipation. It wasn't long before everyone realized that the one being eliminated was obvious; Paintbrush had accidentally destroyed everyone's paintings, and put everyone (except Suitcase, who had been the only one able to get her painting judged) up for elimination. But then something strange began to happen on screen. There was a shot of Paintbrush sitting in the Calm-Down Corner, likely by their own decision. It looked like they didn't know they were being filmed. In a few moments, Lightbulb appeared and began to chat with them. She too seemed unaware of being on camera. Lightbulb cheered Paintbrush up a bit, and Paintbrush apologized for some things they had said earlier.

"I guess I'm just used to doing things my own way. It's hard to explain..." they continued.

Lightbulb smiled. "Eh, I think I get it. I got you, g-" she stopped herself, taking notice of Paintbrush's expression.

Seconds later, the group watching back at the hotel quickly realized that this conversation was definitely not filmed with their consent. At the same time, nobody knew what to say.

"None of the above." And just like that the mystery of Paintbrush's gender was solved in a way no one expected. Some of the residents didn't even know what that meant. Once the episode was over, everyone looked around at each other. It was as if nobody knew just what to say.

Yin-Yang ran out of the room suddenly, and before anyone could question it they'd returned with a cell phone. They were typing something very quickly. Then they stood in front of the TV where everyone could see them.

"Nonbinary," Yang's voice read aloud, grabbing the group's attention. "Noting or relating to a person with a gender identity that does not fit into the male or female divisions."  
They quickly switched to another tab on their phone and this time Yin's began to read, "You don’t have to understand exactly what it means to a person to be nonbinary in order to respect their identity. Some people haven’t heard a lot about nonbinary genders or have trouble understanding them, but that’s okay. The most important thing is asking a person what their identity means to them, and using their preferred name and pronouns."

"Uh," Yang started after a moment, "I don't know what Paintbrush is going to say later, but we should all do our best to respect them and their identity. I don't think Paintbrush knows that conversation was in the episode, but now that we know it would be rude to continue misgendering them. Yin added nothing.

"Paintbrush is sleeping right now," OJ added, "So I'll talk to, uh, them, in the morning. I want to make sure they know this happened before we ask about pronouns and stuff.”

Everyone agreed to this and headed to bed for the night. All they could do was wait until morning.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a knock at the door to Paintbrush’s room the next morning. They hadn’t really been sleeping anymore at that point, so they climbed out of bed and went to open the door. Upon opening it, they saw OJ standing there. They couldn’t place what the look on his face was about. 

"Good morning, may I come in?" OJ asked. 

Paintbrush silently nodded, closing the door behind him. 

OJ didn't speak right away. He looked at Paintbrush and thought for a moment about what he needed to say and how to say it. He could tell they had just gotten out of bed too, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. 

"There's something you need to know," OJ began, "since I think it may be something personal to you."

Paintbrush slightly perked up at this, interested but not fully understanding.

"Every time someone is eliminated, we all watch the episode together here. When we watched the episode last night, I think there may have been a scene where you were having a private conversation and didn't know you were being filmed."

Paintbrush felt like their heart stopped for a good second. "...Was it with Lightbulb?" they finally asked.

OJ only nodded. 

Paintbrush fell silent, wanting to say something but not sure how to phrase it. 

OJ wasn't sure what else to say, or if he even should say anything else. 

"Did..." Paintbrush finally spoke, "Did anyone say anything about it? I know my gender has been a, uh, topic of discussion for a while now." 

"Oh! When the episode ended, Yin-Yang seemed to understand exactly what was going on, and he read everyone some webpages on being nonbinary. Then he said we should all make sure to be respectful to you about it."

Paintbrush's eyes widened. Of all people, it was more than a little surprising to them that Yin-Yang would be the first to understand. They wondered why this was the case.

"I guess I should properly ask you then," OJ continued. "What pronouns do you want us to use for you?"

"They pronouns, please," Paintbrush said in response. They wondered again how the other contestants were taking this news. They wondered how they all would react to this as well. Would the residents be willing to use their pronouns? Their thoughts suddenly drifted back to the beginning of this season's contest. They remembered something in particular the Cherries had said. They shuddered, and hoped OJ wouldn't notice their nervousness. 

"I'll make sure to let the others know," OJ's answer cut through Paintbrush's thoughts. "You've been here before, so you know you can help yourself to breakfast whenever you're ready."

"Right..." Paintbrush responded, "Thank you."

As OJ left the room Paintbrush wondered what they should do next. They weren't really hungry, but something else came to mind. They turned to where Baxter sat on their bed and wondered what crabs eat. Paintbrush thought for a moment, then decided to at least try to find something for Baxter and maybe themself too. Still they hesitated to leave the room.

Paintbrush shook their head. "Gotta leave sometime, Painty…" they told themself, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

As they walked to the kitchen, it crossed Paintbrush's mind that new contestants might not have known where anything was in the hotel. They wondered if OJ showed them around. Probably, they thought. Finally arriving at the kitchen, they opened the fridge and looked inside, remembering Baxter and again wondering what they could feed him. They pushed some things around before sighing and giving up, taking a milk jug to pour themself a glass. When they shut the door they looked up and saw Cherries standing there. The two seemed like they were staring at them almost and Paintbrush froze, unsure what to do.

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence between the two before Paintbruh finally decided to break it, "Um, good morning?"

"Uh..." the left Cherry started, the right finishing, "Good morning..."

Silence fell between them again. Paintbrush sighed, annoyed. They didn't like feeling like a spectacle. Grumpily they grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured their milk, deciding to take it back to their room. They hastily put the milk away, but as they turned to leave one of the Cherries shouted, "Wait!"

Paintbrush hesitated to turn around as they heard the two began to whisper to each other. They didn't seem to be up to anything but it still was unnerving. Suddenly they heard a gasp, "I remember! Pronouns!" 

This was enough to make Paintbrush turn around, surprised. "What pronouns do you want us to use for you?" the right Cherry continued. 

"You guys..." Paintbrush was so glad the Cherries were going to accept them and their pronouns that they ran over and gave them a big hug, picking them up off the ground in the process. 

"They," Paintbrush laughed, "and thank you..." They put Cherries down. "Now, why don't we have some breakfast!"

"Yeah!" Cherries exclaimed, the three of them feeling much happier. 


End file.
